ABSTRACT
Ecotoxicological models of distribution and effects of heavy metals in ecosystems have been applied extensively in environmental management the past 3-4 decades. Because of the characteristic properties of ecotoxicological models, they are often considered a special model type (see, e.g., Jørgensen et al. 2009), although most ecotoxicological models are either biogeochemical or population dynamic models. The heavy metal models integrate the different species of metal compounds and the processes that determine the distribution of heavy metals in the environment. As for ecotoxicological models, in general, the core questions leading to the conceptual diagram are:
1. Which form of the heavy metal is most harmful? 2. Which processes determine the concentration of this most harmful
form of the heavy metal? 3. Which forms and processes should be included in the conceptual
diagram as a consequence of the answers to questions 1 and 2?
